ore, however, they had got the skin off the beast,
the natives assembled like vultures, and began fighting the men. The
scene, though grotesque, was savage and disgusting in the extreme; they
fell to work with swords and hatchets, cutting and slashing, thumping
and bawling, up to their knees in the middle of the carcass. When a
tempting morsel was obtained by one, a stronger would seize it and bear
off the prize--right was now might. Fortunately no fight took place
between the travellers and the villagers. The latter, covered with
blood, were seen scampering home, each with a part of the spoil.

The Sheikh Magomba did his utmost to detain them, sending his chief,
Wazir, in an apparently friendly manner, to beg that they would live in
his palace. The bait, however, did not take--Speke knew the rogue too
well. Next day the sheikh was too drunk to listen to anyone, and thus
day after day passed by. The time was employed in shooting, and a
number of animals were killed. Magomba, however, induced nearly the
whole of the porters to decamp, and there was great difficulty in
obtaining others to take their places. An old acquaintance, whom they
met in a caravan, urged them not to attempt to move, as he thought that
it would be impossible for them to pass through the wilderness depending
only on Speke's and Grant's guns for their support.

Still Speke resolved to push on, and most of the men who had deserted
came back.

To keep up discipline, one of the porters, who had stolen seventy-three
yards of cloth, which was found in his kit, received three dozen lashes,
and, being found to be a murderer and a bad character, he was turned out
of the camp.

They spent New Year's Day at Round Rock, a village occupied by a few
Wakimbu, who, by their quiet and domestic manners, made them feel that
they were out of the forest. Provisions were now obtained by sending
men to distant villages; but they were able to supply the camp with
their guns, killing rhinoceros, wild boar, antelope and zebra.

On the 23rd of January they entered Unyamuezi, or the country of the
moon, little inferior in size to England, but cut up into numerous
pretty states. The name is abbreviated to Weezee.

On the 24th they reached Caze, where Speke had remained so long on his
former visit. His old friend, Musa, came out to meet them, and escorted
them to his _tembe_, or house, where he invited them to reside till he
could find porters to carry their pro